Educational Leadership and Social Justice: Theory Into Practice

JSL publisher has not digitalized the two original Special Issues on Social Justice edited by Margaret Grogan. I am uploading a pdf version. Please cite the original source. Thank you.

The Cultural and Social Foundations of Educational Leadership, 2021

Educational leaders are called to action by the very nature of their jobs, to address issues of social inequity and injustice. Their leadership is key to revealing, disrupting and subverting institutional arrangements which marginalize individuals, reorienting educational engagement towards inclusion, transformation and equity. This chapter examines ways New Zealand educational leaders lead for social justice. It outlines social, moral, cultural and personal dimensions which support and constrain their socially just leadership overall. Exploring the situated meanings and understandings of socially just leadership, and how it manifests in these key areas across different education settings may illuminate possibilities for other leaders to address injustices within their institutions and broader education contexts overall. Keywords Educational leadership • Social justice • Sense making Educational reform has increasingly been perceived as both the problem and the solution in addressing the new work order which is required by the rapidity, complexity and constancy of social change. Educational leaders are frequently described and positioned as 'change agents' (Blackmore, 2002), tasked with the often insurmountable job of mediating and embracing numerous reforms while at the same time leading their schools in ways that prepare young people for tomorrow's world. Hargreaves (2005) contends, "education is the greatest gatekeeper of opportunity and a powerful distributor of life chances. In a socially divided and culturally diverse

Administrative Issues Journal, 2011

This qualitative study examines how educators who are either currently enrolled or who have completed an educational leadership preparation program in the past five years at one Rocky Mountain university understand social justice-as a concept and operationally-and the role of multicultural education in promoting social justice in P-12 school settings. Less than half (44%) of the educational leaders in this study were familiar with the concept of social justice, with those leaders who were familiar with the concept identifying full and equal participation (17%) and equal distribution of resources (11%) as the focus of school programs. Less than one third (28%) of participants expressed views reflecting cultural proficiency or competence, indicating a need for explicit coverage of social justice issues and cultural responsiveness in the educational leadership program examined. The results of this study indicate the need for leadership preparation programs to explicitly address social justice and oppression issues to increase the awareness of leaders and thus their capability to facilitate change that supports greater social justice and equitable educational outcomes for all students.

Leadership and Policy in Schools, 2019

This paper presents a multidimensional framework of social justice educational leadership (SJEL), which accommodates various dimensions of social justice that are either discussed in the literature but rarely in tandem, or those that are largely marginalized or thought to reside beyond the boundaries of SJEL discourse. At its core, the framework presents the division between social equality and individual self-determination. The paper systematically accounts for the inherent conflicts and dilemmas within and among the various dimensions of social justice, thereby offering educational researchers, leaders and policy-makers a practical methodological tool with which to engage social justice leadership actions and policy.

Research in Educational Administration & Leadership, 2018

Article Info This paper reports on the development of the revised Social Justice Questionnaire (SJQ2), an instrument which permits the quantitative examination of socially just school leadership. The SJQ2 is based on data drawn from an exploratory province-wide study to determine to what extent, and how, school principals on Prince Edward Island understand and enact principles of social justice in their work. Although this was a 'stand-alone' project, the research also provides a Canadian contribution to the International School Leadership Development Network (ISLDN). The researchers utilized a mixed methods approach to glean both qualitative and quantitative data for analysis. The findings indicated that there is a statistically significant correlation between socially just school leadership and the community context. This research supports and enhances current qualitative studies by adding a statistical perspective to show that effective social justice leadership cannot be segregated from the political, economic, and cultural context of the community.

2019

Social justice leadership connects theory to action. Those who choose to challenge hegemonic practices, disrupting the status quo, are often met with resistance and hostility. The field of education is rife with its own systems of inequities that need to be disrupted (Spring, 2018). In this chapter, we elicit reflections from three social justice leaders as they think back on their journeys navigating policies and politics to create socially just educational spaces.

2008